Wire-fence stay



' No. 617,442. Patent ed lan.. l0, I899.

' n. B. LEATHERMAN.

WIRE'FENCE STAY.

(Application flied Deg. 29, 1896.)

(No Model.)

Nrrsn STATES PATENT RICHARD B. LEATHERMAN, OF VINCHESTER, VIRGINIA.

WIRE-FENCE STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,442, dated January 10, 1899.

Application filed December 29, 1896. Serial No. 617,414. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD B. LEATHER- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winchester, in the county of Frederick and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Wire-Fence Stay, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wire fences, and particularly to metal stays for use in connec tion with parallel wire runners; and the objects in view are to provide asimple, strong, durable, and inexpensive sheet-metal stay adapted for use in constructing new or repairing old fences and also adapted to be applied to old forms of barbed-wire structures, said stay being of such a construction as to adapt it to be nested to occupy the minimumspace for shipping and storing and having means arranged at short intervals throughout the length of the stay for the application of securing devices, whereby the stay may be attached at its points of intersection with runners irrespective of the intervals between the runners, and, furthermore, to provide the stay witha lock for engagement with the uppermost runner of a fence whereby a strong and neat attachment is secured, without allowing the projection of the extremity of the stay above the runner, such projection being objectionable as forming abrasive and injurious points for contact with stock and passing objects.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a viewof a fence having runners connected by stays'c'onstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the stay and the contiguous portion of a runner to show the arrangement of a tie. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the same, showin g the tie previous to coiling the extremities thereof around the runner at opposite sides of the stay. Fig. 4 is a detail view in perspective of the upper end of a stay and contiguous portion of a runner, showing the tongues of the stay seated upon the runner previous to bending them to engage the same. Fig. 5 is a detail view in perspective of the upper end of a stay and contiguous portions of runners, showing a top runner locked in itsoperative position by the tongues of the stay, and alsoshowing a tie-wire with its ex-' tremities coiled around an intermediate runner at opposite sides of the stay. Fig. 6 is a detail view of a tie-wire of hair-pin or looped construction previous to application to a stay.

Fig. 7 is a detail view of a stay provided with the improved top wire lock and showing modified means for engaging the lower runners.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings. 5

The stay 1 embodying my invention is of concavo-convex cross sectional construction, either semitubular, V-shaped, or channeled, and it is provided at its flattened upper extremity 2 with a plurality ofv integral tongues 3, preferably three in number, alternate tongues being arranged in different planes to occupy positions at opposite sides of a runner 4, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. These tongues are adapted to be bent or folded al- I ternately in opposite directions to embrace or encircle the runner, and by reason of their alternately opposite arrangement it is obvious that disengagement of a stay from the runner by an ordinary strain is prevented. The oppositely-disposed tongues serve to reinforce each 0ther, while the exposed portions of the tongues,when folded, are rounded and thus form no point for contact with a passing object. The arrangement described gives the fence a' finished appearance, the top wire forming the upper boundary.

Various means may be provided in connection with the body portion of the stay for securing it to the intermediate and lower runners; but in practice I prefer to provide said body portion with a continuous series of per forations 5, extending in either a single or a plurality of rows from one end of the stay to the other and spaced at short intervals for engagement by tie-wires 6. This continuous ners. Hence this feature of the stay adapts it to be used in the construction of different kinds of fences wherein the intervals between the runners are varied, one set of dies being suflicient in the manufacture of stays for fences of different designs. A further object of this feature of construction resides in the fact that the stay may be applied to barbed-wire or other fences whereof the runners are already in place, the points at which the ties are arranged being suited to the intervals between the runners.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a preferred form of hair-pin or looped tie-wire, of which the sides or extremities are adapted to be inserted through contiguous perforations 5 upon opposite sides of the plane of a runner from the inside or concave surface of the stay,whereby the looped end of the tie seats itself upon the runner, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The extremities or sides of the tie are then preferably carried in opposite directions to the sides of the stay and wrapped, as at 6, around the runner, any suitable tool being employed for this purpose. Each tie-wire therefore has three bearings or points of contact with the runner, one of which is between the points of contact of the edges of the stay with the runner and the others of which are outside of the stay.

Fig. 7 shows a stay having an ordinary form of lock for engagement with the lower runners, the same being provided with a topwire lock constructed as above'described.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

40, Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. As an article of manufacture, a fencestay formed of sheet metal and having a corrugated middle portion and a flattened end 7 adapted to receive and be secured to the wire of a wire fence.

2. A fence-stay formed of sheet metal and havinga corrugated middle portion and a flattened end, and a loop, formed of said flattened end, engaged with the wire of a wire fence.

3. A fence-stay provided at its upper end with side and intermediate tongues deflected, respectively from a common plane for arrangement upon opposite sides of the plane of the top runner of a fence, and adapted to be folded in opposite directions around the runner to form a non-abrasive terminal, substantially as specified.

4. The herein-described cross-sectionallyconcavo-convex fence-stay, provided with a continuous series of uniformly-spaced perforations disposed at short intervals for respective engagement by the sides or legs or looped ties, said stay being terminally flattened and longitudinally slit to form side and intermediate tongues adapted to be bent or rolled respectively in opposite directions to engage a common fence-runner, substantially as specifled.

5. In a fence, the combination with runners, of a stay of cross-sectional]y-concavo-convex construction having a flattened upper extremity terminating in a plurality of tongues which are folded around the uppermost runner alternately in opposite directions, the terminals of said tongues being arranged in the vertical plane of and beneath said uppermost runner, and means for securing a stay at its points of intersection with the lowermost and intermediate runners, substantially as specifled.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

R. B. LEATIIERMAN.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN II. SIGGERS, W. B. HUDSON. 

